As I understand, the patient was in hospital for 3 days (at least, I'm not sure of the actual timescale as reports have varied) with a dying foetus and with her waters broken.

Once the waters break, the chance of infection apparently skyrocket. At that point, the responsible medical response to preserve the life of the mother would have been abortion. To do nothing was to play russian roulette with her life. And, thanks to the hospital's gambling, Savita lost.